Running head: GENDER DIFFERENCES IN PRETEND PLAY

An Observational Study of Gender Differences in Pretend Play for Preschool Children

Sarah Mallon

University of Michigan
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GENDER DIFFERENCES IN PRETEND PLAY
Abstract

Pretend play is an important part of child development. Studying pretend play can be difficult as

past research has many different types of operationalizations for pretend play and it can be

difficult to distinguish between pretend play and regular play. We used an observational study in

order to examine if there was a gender difference in participating in pretend play. We

hypothesized that preschool aged girls would participate in pretend play more than preschool

aged boys. To conduct this study we examined thirty-six preschoolers, with an equal number of

boys and girls. Our findings were that boys actually participate more than girls in pretend play.

Boys’ mean rate of pretend play behaviors was higher than girls’ mean rate. These findings did

not support our hypothesis. The main implication of this study is the need for more research into

pretend play.
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GENDER DIFFERENCES IN PRETEND PLAY
An Observational Study of Gender Differences in Pretend Play for Preschool Children

Pretend play can be considered a fundamental aspect of skill building in many

developmental areas. It has been theorized to share some of its cognitive structures with

important cognitive and social abilities, including theory of mind and symbolic understanding

(Weisberg, 2015). Pretend play allows children to practice more complex skills and test out new

environments. According to Vygotsky (1967), pretend play can be considered an important part

of development and is theorized that the use of symbols in an imaginary context assists children

in understanding the social world. Therefore, studying pretend play would allow us to make

inferences about the effects of pretend play on children’s development. If participating in pretend

play or not participating would have different effects on a child. It also could help make

connections between types of play needed for developmental growth and if children are getting

enough of the different types of pretend play that helps their growth. With past research

suggesting that pretend play has an important influence on developmental growth, future

research should dive into what types of pretend play are happening and if potentially one gender

is participating in pretend play more often and therefore getting more of the developmental aid

from pretend play.

The definition and operationalization of pretend play has been constantly evolving

between researchers. Some researchers have simpler definitions for pretend play, stating that

pretend play involves some type of representation or acting as if a certain object is something

else (Weisberg, 2015). While other researchers have more complex definitions. Stating that

pretend play contains five possible components, including object substitutions, attribution of

pretend properties/ animation, social interactions within pretend play, role enactment, and
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metacommunication (Thompson & Goldstein, 2019). Given the variety in defining pretend play,

the ways in which researchers have investigated pretend play has also been very different.

Certain researchers have focused on pretend play in preschools. Studying preschool aged

children is important because in typically developing children pretend play starts at about 2 years

old, is most prevalent at 3-4 years old, and then starts to become less prevalent around 6 years

old (Piaget, 1962). This means that how pretend play is used by children should mostly be

studied with children aged 3-4 years old in order to get the best understanding of how pretend

play affects children’s development. It is also where the cognitive and social skills that have been

linked to pretend play are developing the most rapidly (Weisberg, 2015). Another study that

examined pretend play with preschoolers examined the influence of initiating the pretend play on

the complexity of pretend play behaviors. Finding that children who initiated pretend play more

frequently were more likely to have complex pretend play behaviors than children who did not

initiate pretend play as frequently (Melzer & Palermo, 2016). Therefore, it examined the

influence of parents initiating the pretend play and how it created lower levels of complexity for

the children. This is important to note because influence of parents or teachers in preschooler’s

pretend play therefore might change their developmental growth if the children lose control of

guiding the pretend play.

When studying gender differences in pretend play past researchers have focused on

studying the preferences of children’s choices of certain toys and different types of pretend play

each gender is engaging in. It was suggested that girls engaged in slightly more pretend play

behaviors than boys (Jones & Glenn, 1991). This claim came from studying the many different

types of pretend play children can engage in. This particular study by Jones and Glenn (1991),

also found that girls engaged in person fantasy play and boys engaged in more object fantasy
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GENDER DIFFERENCES IN PRETEND PLAY
play. Person fantasy play is the portrayal of the qualities of a character by active presentation

while object fantasy is play that involves the attribution of an entirely new identity to an object

(Jones & Glenn, 1991). Beyond the couple of research studies that focus on the different types of

pretend play girls and boys engage in, there has not been a lot of research into gender differences

in participating in pretend play. This might be because pretend play can be difficult to measure

as children do not verbalize everything they do. There might be pretend play present in the

child’s mind that is not apparent to an observer. Making it challenging to distinguish which

children are engaging in pretend play and which are not going beyond their physical

environment. Examining the gender difference in pretend play can lead to a better understanding

of child development and how to better support it. If the research is correct that pretend play

helps cognitive and social abilities, then knowing if one gender is lagging behind the other in

pretend play can assist researchers in investigating ways that could close that gap.

The current study investigates the gender differences in participating in pretend play

because pretend play is often not assessed for its own sake. Rather for whether engaging in such

play transfers to gains in other important areas of development (Thompson & Goldstein, 2019).

While research has investigated the different types of pretend play that boys and girls participate

in, an important question that is currently under-investigated is gender differences in

participating in pretend play. More specifically, is it possible that one gender of preschool aged

children actively participates in pretend play more than the other gender. To investigate this

possibility, we conducted an observational studying examining pretend play in a sample of

preschool children age 3.5- 5 years old. We hypothesize that preschool aged girls will engage in

pretend play more than preschool aged boys.

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Methods

Participants

Thirty-six children age 3.5 to 5-year-old were observed in this study with both girls and

boys represented equally. All participants were students at a children’s center on University

property were the children of staff at the University. The children’s center curriculum focuses on

nurturing social behavior and enhancing the child’s self-concept. The curriculum is also play-

based with a focus on social, cognitive, and physical development. The program also has both

children initiated and teacher-initiated activities. The participants were selected from multiple

different preschool classrooms within the children’s center. The participants were not

compensated for this observational study. Parents gave informed consent prior to participating in

the study by signing a consent form when registering at the children’s center. We used an

observational study in order to create a non-harmful procedure and to not interfere with the

children’s play. The data gathered in this study will be kept confidential and will not be

published so therefore it is IRB exempt.

Procedures

Each child was observed in their classroom or on the playground for five minutes each at

one-minute intervals. We observed whether the child was participating in pretend play or regular

play. We entered the classroom or playground and observed from the side in order to not

interfere. We started with observing the first child to our left. Each child was observed for one-

minute intervals until we reached the desired five minutes per child. To observe the next child,

we chose every other child to the previous child’s left and alternated gender. We measured an

equal number of boys and girls.

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Measures

Pretend play was assessed as whether or not the child participated in a range of

imaginative play, including role play (family/fantasy/occupational), plans for events or actions

(shopping), or objects and settings which are changed and invented (transformations/

substitutions). Children received a score of 1 each time they participated in pretend play and a

score of 0 each time they did not participate in pretend play. Types of play that were not

considered pretend play and therefore given a score of 0, include using objects for their intended

purpose such as swinging on the swings or if they did not verbalize their substitution. Scores

were tallied for each child. Higher scores indicated a greater use of pretend play. Internal validity

was evaluated with inter-rater reliability. We conducted inter-rater reliability by having two

researchers per classroom assessing the same child for pretend play at the same time. Then

comparing the scores calculated by the two researchers in a room for inter-rater reliability.

Before averaging the score of both rooms inter-rater reliability to get our calculated inter-rater

reliability of 97.5%.

Results

The analyses were conducted in order to test the hypothesis that preschool aged girls will

participate in pretend play more than preschool aged boys. The analyses conducted for this study

were descriptive statistics. In order to determine the potential gender difference for participating

in pretend play we used both mean and range (See Table 1). The mean for preschool aged girls

(M=1.89) participating in pretend play was lower than the mean for preschool aged boys

(M=2.67) participating in pretend play. The range for girls participating in pretend play (R= 0-5)

and the range for boys participating in pretend play (R=0-5) were the same. Examining the

hypothesis that preschool aged girls will participate in pretend play more than preschool aged
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boys, we found that this was not the case. Based off the ranges in participation in pretend play

one would assume both genders participated equally, however this is not the case. Based off our

means we found that boys participated in pretend play more than girls (see Figure 1).

Discussion

This study aimed to find if there was a gender difference in participation in pretend play.

Our hypothesis was that preschool aged girls would participate in pretend play more than

preschool aged boys. The findings however did not support our hypothesis. Instead the findings

showed support for the claim that boys participate in pretend play more than girls. Our data not

only conflicts with our hypothesis but also previous research findings. Past research found that

girls engage in slightly more pretend play than boys (Jones & Glenn, 1991). This research also

indicated that girls participated more in person fantasy play and boys participated more in object

fantasy play (Jones & Glenn, 1991). While there was not a lot of past research to support our

hypothesis, it is interesting to find that our current study did not come to the same conclusion as

past research.

One of the limitations of our study is that it was an observational study. Since we were

studying pretend play, we wanted to see if children were making substitutions to their actual

environment. However, this can be challenging because children are not always verbal about

their actions or thoughts. So, we had to decide for them if we believed they were participating in

pretend play or not without them sharing their own thoughts about their play. Another possible

limitation was that we, as the researchers, were assuming gender identity for the children. When

collecting our data, two of our researchers were approached by one of the children in the

classroom who told them that two of the other children identified as a different gender than they

might have been presenting as in that day. Therefore, not being able to check with the child
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GENDER DIFFERENCES IN PRETEND PLAY
about their gender identity can be a limitation to our study. Another limitation is where we

gathered our data from. Having it be a sample from a preschool that mainly has university staff’s

children can make it harder to generalize because it limits the variability within the sample.

Another possible limitation is the variability in data when looking at time of day when we

collected the data. If it was the afternoon and the children had more open free time play, there

was more pretend play across the board. However, in the morning the children’s time was more

structured with activities that were adult led. Therefore, limiting their ability to participate in

pretend play. The amount of pretend play occurring was dependent on the child being able to

make their own choices with their time.

One of the strengths of our study was that it was an observational study which let us

study the children without manipulating the environment. Therefore, not changing their behavior

which could have skewed our data. Another strength was the variability of when we collected the

data. Since we observed the children in multiple environments, we were not confined by the

environment the children were in. Another possible strength of our study was studying

preschoolers. Since we were studying if there was a gender differences in pretend play, it was

beneficial to study this age group where pretend play is heavily prevalent. Additionally, with an

equal number of boys and girls represented in our study we were better able to assess a potential

gender difference than if we had more of one gender in our study.

One of the larger implications of our results is showing that more research into pretend

play needs to be done. With an unclear support of any hypothesis into a potential gender

difference in participation in pretend play, there is a gap in understanding. Since other research is

already looking at the possible effects of pretend play on development, having clear research into
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GENDER DIFFERENCES IN PRETEND PLAY
whether there is a gender difference in pretend play could help for future planning of getting all

children involved in order to further their growth.

Overall, the main findings of this study were that preschool aged boys participate in

pretend play more than preschool aged girls. These findings lead to the idea that further research

into pretend play should be conducted. A suggested research idea would be to conduct a larger

sample study on gender differences in pretend play. Or to conduct a study of a comparison of

children that are consistently using pretend play versus children that rarely use pretend play. In

order to see if there is a difference in developmental growth.

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References

Jones, A., & Glenn, S.M., (1991). Gender differences in pretend play in a primary school group.

Early Child Development and Care, 77(1), 127-135. DOI:  10.1080/0300443910770112

Melzer, D.K. & Palermo, C. A. (2016). Mommy, you are the princess and I am the queen: How

preschool children’s initiation and language use during pretend play relate to complexity.

Infant and Child Development, 25(2), 221-230. DOI: 10.1002/icd.1927

Piaget, J. (1962). Play, dreams, and imitation in childhood. W.W. Norton & Company.

Thompson, B. N., & Goldstein, T. R. (2019). Disentangling pretend play measurement: Defining

the essential elements and developmental progression of pretense. Developmental

Review, 52, 24–41. DOI: 10.1016/j.dr.2019.100867

Vygotsky, L.S. (1967). Play and its role in the mental development of the child. Soviet

Psychology. 5(3), 6-18. DOI: 10.2753/RPO1061-040505036

Weisberg, D. S. (2015). Pretend play. WIREs Cognitive Science, 6(3), 249–261. DOI:

10.1002/wcs.1341
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Tables
Table 1
Mean, Range, and Total Count for pretend play by gender 
Group Mean Score Range Count

Male 2.67 0-5 18

Female 1.89 0-5 18

Figures
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3

2.5
Mean Pretend Play Behaviors

1.5

0.5

0
Female Male

Gender Group

Figure 1. Mean differences in pretend play behaviors based on gender.